A BURGLAR was pulled from a hole in a toilet door by police after hiding there when he was caught red-handed raiding an O2 shop.

Benjamin Brown caused £12,000 worth of damage by using a crowbar to smash his way into the store on Commercial Street in Newport city centre.

Officers responding to the intruder alarm found that the defendant had stuffed a sleeping bag full of mobile phones and smartwatches.

They also came across a blood-stained balaclava Brown had worn and there was a trail of his blood throughout the shop after cutting himself.

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Dominie Patel, prosecuting, told Cardiff Crown Court: “The defendant ran past the police and locked himself in the toilet.

“Officers had to break down the door and they used PAVA spray when he continued to resist them.

“The defendant was eventually arrested after being pulled through a hole in the door.”

An O2 employee made a statement which revealed the damage caused to the business was £12,001.59 and “likely to increase”.

The store had to close for the day following the offence on Friday, July 19 so that repair work could take place with a specialist cleaning company hired to mop up all the blood.

It had been “a logistical nightmare” for the company, he admitted.

Brown, aged 40, of Ruperra Street, Newport pleaded guilty to burglary.

The offence was committed shortly after he had been released from prison after being sentenced in February for a burglary at Newport County AFC fans’ Bar Amber pub.

His barrister Alice Sykes said: “The defendant entered a guilty plea at the earliest opportunity and he made that admission in prepared statements to the police.

“It is drugs that have blighted Mr Brown’s life.”

Judge Lucy Crowther told the defendant he had carried out this offence after deciding to take crack cocaine again.

“You are the author of your own misfortune Mr Brown,” she said.

The defendant was jailed for 20 months and told he would serve half of that sentence before being released on licence.

He will have to pay a £187 victim surcharge.